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By L. F. Reinartz

FROM the earliest times when our prehistoric ancestors laboriously fashioned crude tools and weapons from meteoric iron until our day when we manufacture steel in 150-ton open-hearth furnaces, the production of iron and steel has played a dramatic and important role in the development of civilization. Progress in the science of refining iron ore into iron and steel was painfully slow for many centuries. The keen scimitars of Damascus, the broadswords of the English knights, the coats of mail of French knights, and the Iron Pillar of Delhi are well¬known examples of medieval metallurgical technique. Expense and the scarcity of raw materials originally limited the distribution of iron and steel products. It was not until the nineteenth century that a determined effort was made to adapt the use of steel to peaceful pursuits. The spectacular and rapid strides made in the manufacture of steel during the last hundred years were hastened by the invention during the decade 1860 to 1870 of two great steelmaking processes-the Bessemer and the open-hearth process.

Jan 1, 1936

Prof. Frank H. Probert, dean of the College of Mining of the University of California, visited the mining areas in the devastated regions as a member of the Bureau of Mines committee, which is studying the problems presented in the rehabilitation of mines there. He says that the absolute destruction of the coal mines in the Pas de Calais section makes it-necessary to use either the Westphalia or the Saar valley coal. The Saar mines, however, produce a poor quality of coking coal: therefore, it will not be possible to operate blast furnaces very efficiently unless provision is made for the introduction of better coal. He believes

Jan 6, 1919

By H. J. Struth

AN unusual engineering achievement in the Gulf Coast last year was the drilling of a wildcat well in the swamps of Louisiana, using direct current. More unusual was the fact that it was necessary to house a diesel engine and generator on a barge in order to supply power. The remoteness of the well made it necessary to transport living quarters and drilling equipment to the location by means of barges, and involved the digging of a canal from a lake to the location, approximated one mile. The drilling equipment used on this well consisted of two generating units, each having one 210-hp. six-cylinder @$-in. bore type VDMA, 600 r.p.m. diesel engine, direct connected to a type CD-169, 125-kw., 250-volt direct current generator, which in turn is direct connected to a type CD-105, 15-kw. 250-volt exciter. One of these motors operates the draw works, one the mud pump, and one a duplicate spare. The generating equipment on the barge was approximately 250 ft. from the derrick, the control wires being brought from the derrick to the generator barge enclosed in a standard fire hose. This is an original idea for confining the con- 11.01 wires in one cable; obtaining minimum space and ample protection. Both control and power lines were suspended on poles. This well was at Lake Grande Ecaille Dome, which was located by seismograph in 1928. Fig. 1 shows the derrick, power barge and living quarters where direct G. E. current was used with rotary drilling equipment.

Jan 1, 1932

By Yeatman, Pope

FOR many years geologists have felt that mining companies should adopt a more liberal policy in the publication of their reports. The increasing usefulness of the geologist to the mining profession in recent years demands that consideration be given to this question. Prior to 1900, the call for geologists of high reputation by mining companies was probably mainly in connection with lawsuits arising from the interpretation of rights or ownership as defined by the "Law of the Apex," and from problems such as finding the continuation of the vein or whether the vein followed was the main one or a branch. Later, outside of legal questions, the most intensive and general use of their services arose from the search for oil. Geologists to determine the position of the formations

Jan 1, 1938

By Harold Margolin, W. R. Hibbard, R. W. Fenn, H. P. Moore

Deformation lines, also called etch markings or strain markings, are non-effaceable lines developed in individual grains by etching a metal specimen which has been cold worked sufficiently to cause atomic non-conformity or slight orientation differences within the grains. Etching occurs more rapidly at these lines of high chemical reactivity to produce a result similar to that revealing grain boundaries. Wider etching effects forming bands have been found. They are believed to be bands of deformation lines which form areas of measurably different orientation from the crystal matrix. The crystallite rotations causing these bands have been shown by Barrett2 to contribute to deformation textures. Although deformation lines have been observed in many metals, the amount of deformation requireti for their appearance has been established only in general terms. Mathewson and Phillips3 observed the first appearance of deformation lines in cold-rolled alpha brass at about 20 pct reduction in thickness using the standard ammonium hydroxide hydrogen peroxide etchant. Price and Davidson4 noted defor- mation lines in common high brass after 26.5 pct reduction by cold rolling using the same etchant. Johnson6 observed dark thick forklike lines in 99.99 pct pure copper reduced 31.8 pct. Adcock6 observed deformation lines in 80-20 copper-nickel alloy rolled 50 pct. Samans7 found no deformation lines in alpha brass single crystals cold rolled 9.5 pct but they did appear after 25 pct reduction using ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide etchant. Barrett and Levenson8 observed deformation bands in drawn polycrystalline iron at very small reductions in area and noted that their initial appearance perhaps depends on grain size and other conditions. They reported deformation bands in a single crystal of iron reduced 6 pct by drawing. Brickg noted that deformation lines in 70-30 brass apparently associated with I I I I ) planes appeared after reductions of from 20-50 pct by cold rolling. Brick and Williamson10 noted that in single crystals of 70-30 alpha brass "as in polycrystalline brass, no deformation markings appeared until reductions exceeded 20 pct." Cook and Richards" reported that in Copper cold rolled less than about 50 Pet few strain markings were apparent but for higher reductions many strain markings appeared transverse to the rolled direction. In a review article Brick and Phillips12 noted that previous studies had not shown deformation lines in cold rolled alpha brass below 20 pet reduction and added that 4

Jan 1, 1949

By H. P. Moore, R. W. Fenn, Harold Margolin, W. R. Hibbard

Deformation lines, also called etch markings or strain markings, are non-effaceable lines developed in individual grains by etching a metal specimen which has been cold worked sufficiently to cause atomic non-conformity or slight orientation differences within the grains. Etching occurs more rapidly at these lines of high chemical reactivity to produce a result similar to that revealing grain boundaries. Wider etching effects forming bands have been found. They are believed to be bands of deformation lines which form areas of measurably different orientation from the crystal matrix. The crystallite rotations causing these bands have been shown by Barrett2 to contribute to deformation textures. Although deformation lines have been observed in many metals, the amount of deformation requireti for their appearance has been established only in general terms. Mathewson and Phillips3 observed the first appearance of deformation lines in cold-rolled alpha brass at about 20 pct reduction in thickness using the standard ammonium hydroxide hydrogen peroxide etchant. Price and Davidson4 noted defor- mation lines in common high brass after 26.5 pct reduction by cold rolling using the same etchant. Johnson6 observed dark thick forklike lines in 99.99 pct pure copper reduced 31.8 pct. Adcock6 observed deformation lines in 80-20 copper-nickel alloy rolled 50 pct. Samans7 found no deformation lines in alpha brass single crystals cold rolled 9.5 pct but they did appear after 25 pct reduction using ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide etchant. Barrett and Levenson8 observed deformation bands in drawn polycrystalline iron at very small reductions in area and noted that their initial appearance perhaps depends on grain size and other conditions. They reported deformation bands in a single crystal of iron reduced 6 pct by drawing. Brickg noted that deformation lines in 70-30 brass apparently associated with I I I I ) planes appeared after reductions of from 20-50 pct by cold rolling. Brick and Williamson10 noted that in single crystals of 70-30 alpha brass "as in polycrystalline brass, no deformation markings appeared until reductions exceeded 20 pct." Cook and Richards" reported that in Copper cold rolled less than about 50 Pet few strain markings were apparent but for higher reductions many strain markings appeared transverse to the rolled direction. In a review article Brick and Phillips12 noted that previous studies had not shown deformation lines in cold rolled alpha brass below 20 pet reduction and added that 4

Jan 1, 1949

By C.P. Clingerman

The recent iastallation of a combination dust catcher, gas washer and precipitator at Carrie blast furnaces of the Homestead Steel Works has given very satisfactory results. The following description of the gas-cleaning installation is based on actual operating experience. When Carrie blast furnace No. 3 was rebuilt the decision was made to fine-clean all the gas produced by the furnace, because the management wanted fine-cleaned gas for fuel in the stoves and boilers. In order to keep the installation cost as low as possible, the gas-cleaning system was streamlined. All by-pass lines and goggle valves for bypass lines were eliminated from the system. A radical departure from the use of 8-in. tubes in the Cottrell-type precipitators was made by using 12-in. diameter tubes in a single compartment, the single compartment being divided into two units by a single partition wall in the top header. The Furnace Proper A few of the characteristic points and dimensions of the furnace proper are: Hearth diameter.............. 26 ft. o in. Bosh diameter............... 29 ft. 1 3/4 in. Stock-line diameter........... 20 ft. o in. Large-bell diameter........... 14 ft. 8 in. Small-bell diameter........... 6 ft. 6 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to bottom of large bell, closed............ 94 ft. 4 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to main platform ...................... 105 ft. o in. The furnace top is equipped with a MC-Kee revolving distributor, the operation of which is electrically interlocked with the skips, bell hoists, and coke-weighing and charging apparatus through a Freyn automatic charging control. The gas leaves the furnace first through four offtakes, 5 ft. 9 in. in diameter, then through uptakes that, are approximately 85 ft. high, which feed into a single down-comer that is 9 ft. in diameter. Dust Catcher The primary dust catcher installed (Fig. I) may be described as a single-cone type. The inlet pipe at the top of the dust catchei is 9 ft. in diameter; it is flared to a conical shape as it extends down inside the dust-catcher shell, which is 35 ft. in diameter, 37 ft. high on the straight side, and has a conical top and bottom. The slope of the bottom is so0 with the horizontal. The cone-shaped pipe inside the dust-catcher shell is 42 ft. high and is 19 ft. 7 in. in diameter at its bottom lip where it releases the gas inside the dust catcher. The ratio of the area of the inside cone at its bottom lip to the

Jan 1, 1943

By C. P. Clingerman

The recent iastallation of a combination dust catcher, gas washer and precipitator at Carrie blast furnaces of the Homestead Steel Works has given very satisfactory results. The following description of the gas-cleaning installation is based on actual operating experience. When Carrie blast furnace No. 3 was rebuilt the decision was made to fine-clean all the gas produced by the furnace, because the management wanted fine-cleaned gas for fuel in the stoves and boilers. In order to keep the installation cost as low as possible, the gas-cleaning system was streamlined. All by-pass lines and goggle valves for bypass lines were eliminated from the system. A radical departure from the use of 8-in. tubes in the Cottrell-type precipitators was made by using 12-in. diameter tubes in a single compartment, the single compartment being divided into two units by a single partition wall in the top header. The Furnace Proper A few of the characteristic points and dimensions of the furnace proper are: Hearth diameter.............. 26 ft. o in. Bosh diameter............... 29 ft. 1 3/4 in. Stock-line diameter........... 20 ft. o in. Large-bell diameter........... 14 ft. 8 in. Small-bell diameter........... 6 ft. 6 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to bottom of large bell, closed............ 94 ft. 4 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to main platform ...................... 105 ft. o in. The furnace top is equipped with a MC-Kee revolving distributor, the operation of which is electrically interlocked with the skips, bell hoists, and coke-weighing and charging apparatus through a Freyn automatic charging control. The gas leaves the furnace first through four offtakes, 5 ft. 9 in. in diameter, then through uptakes that, are approximately 85 ft. high, which feed into a single down-comer that is 9 ft. in diameter. Dust Catcher The primary dust catcher installed (Fig. I) may be described as a single-cone type. The inlet pipe at the top of the dust catchei is 9 ft. in diameter; it is flared to a conical shape as it extends down inside the dust-catcher shell, which is 35 ft. in diameter, 37 ft. high on the straight side, and has a conical top and bottom. The slope of the bottom is so0 with the horizontal. The cone-shaped pipe inside the dust-catcher shell is 42 ft. high and is 19 ft. 7 in. in diameter at its bottom lip where it releases the gas inside the dust catcher. The ratio of the area of the inside cone at its bottom lip to the

Jan 1, 1943

By S. J. Swainson

PHOSPHATE ROCK is a low- priced commodity. This fact has influenced the choice of mining and beneficiating methods to a greater degree, perhaps, than in most other low-grade mining operations. The fact that many yards of everburden and matrix must be stripped and mined per ton of salable "rock" produced and sold has necessitated he development of relatively simple btneficiating plants having high capacity and low capital and operating costs. The law of diminishing returns must always be reckoned with in phosphate mining and washing, and often recovery must be sacrificed in favor of costs in order to achieve the highest over-all economic efficiency. The phosphate-bearing formation, known as "matrix," is composed of (1) phosphate pebbles, which are somewhat rounded in shape and which vary in size from 1-in, to micron sizes, (2) rounded quartz grains usually smaller than 10 mesh, and (3) clay, of varying "stiffness," which is the binder of the matrix. The phosphate pebbles vary in hardness. Their color, which varies from white to black, is not a reliable indicator of the Bone Phosphate of Lime (B.P.L.) content of the

Jan 1, 1944

By G. A. Beiswenger

The application of the law of supply and demand to the sale of crude oil is generally conceded, but the motives underlying the buyer's (refiner's) demands are not always obvious to the seller (producer). In some cases this obscurity has led to the conclusion that the refiner may be unnecessarily particular when he selects one crude and rejects another. This preference, however, is very largely the reflection of the refiner's product demands and the quality of the stocks obtainable from the selected crude. The purpose of this paper is to point out critical characteristies of the major classes of refined products and to show how crudes vary in their suitability for such products. With relatively few exceptions, available processing methods and addition agents make it theoretically possible to produce any type of refined product from any crude source, although it may not be economically sound to do so. The widespread application of thermal cracking for converting higher boiling stocks into gasoline is well known. More recently cracking and refining in the presence of catalysts9 have been developed, as well as various processes for polymerizing lighter hydrocarbons into gasolines having desirable characteristics.6 For several years, selective solvents have been applied commercially to refining inferior quality kerosene, Diesel fuel and lubricating oil distillates.3 Improved methods for refining lubricating oils from crude residual4 formerly suitable only for fuel, are now in use and a number of special solvent processes are available for dewaxing lubricating oils to low pour point.5 These improved refining methods have been developed not only to meet the demand for improved product quality but also to enable the refiner to obtain quality products from crude sources that would not yield such products by the older refining methods. In many cases, the utilization of these modern refining tools necessitates an appreciable expenditure for equipment as well as added manufacturing costs, and their application therefore must be justified economically. Despite the availability of such tools, the added processing costs involved and yields obtainable may render their application entirely impractical. To illustrate this point, inspections of typical cuts from various crudes

Jan 1, 1940

By B. B. Zavoico

During 1936 the Russian oil industry made very satisfactory progress and, while not all difficulties of organization have been ironed out, the country is now assured of a supply of petroleum products in sufficient quantities and of quality demanded by modern motor equipment. The year 1937 promises to better by a wide margin the good showing of 1936. The statistics given in this paper for the first time take into consideration the varying gravities of crude oils of the several Russian oil fields instead of using a flat conversion factor of 7 bbl. per metric ton. It was found from the detailed study that the generally used average conversion factor should be increased from 7 to 7.25 bbl. per metric ton, the figure varying, of course, with the gravity of oil in the individual fields. Crude-oil production during 1936 is estimated at 201,500,000 bbl. as compared with 182,970,000 bbl. produced in 1935, an increase of 9.4 per cent. The greatest increase was again recorded in the Baku district, which increased its production by 10.9 per cent, from 141,257,000 bbl. in 1935 to 158,300,000 in 1936. Grozny district maintained its production at a level of about 23,000,000 bbl., but its old fields continued to decline and production was sustained by the development of newer fields. A great advance was made in drilling speeds and the total footage in 1936 reached 6,694,200 ft. as compared with 4,926,600 ft. drilled in 1935, an increase of 26.4 per cent. In older deep fields, producers were being completed at over 8000 ft.—a great depth for Russian drillers but two years ago. Several major discoveries were made in 1936. Northeast Caucasus.—Izberbash, east from Grozny and on the Caspian Sea, was the outstanding discovery, the initial production of the discovery well being around 3000 bbl. per day from about 5000 ft. The importance of the field is due to the large area of the structure, half of which, however, is under the sea, and also to its strategic location on the shores of the Caspian and near a trunk pipe line to the Grozny refining center. An active development program is being pursued in Izberbash and its 1937 production quota is set at 7,500,000 bbl. Achi-Su field, near Izberbash, also discovered during 1936, while not as prolific as Izberbash, is thought to cover a very large area and the small

Jan 1, 1937

By C. J. Fleisch, C. P. Clingerman

THE recent installation of a combination dust catcher, gas washer and precipitator at Carrie blast furnaces of the Homestead Steel Works has given very satisfactory results. The following description of the gas-cleaning installation is based on actual operating experience. When Carrie blast furnace No. 3 was rebuilt the decision was made to fine-clean all the gas produced by the furnace, because the management wanted fine-cleaned gas for fuel in the stoves and boilers. In order to keep the installation cost as low as possible, the gas-cleaning system was streamlined. All by-pass lines and goggle valves for bypass lines were eliminated from the system. A radical departure from the use of 8-in. tubes in the Cottrell-type precipitators was made by using 12-in. diameter tubes in a single compartment, the single compartment being divided into two units by a single partition wall in the top header. THE FURNACE PROPER A few of the characteristic points and dimensions of the furnace proper are: [Hearth diameter 26 ft. o in. Bosh diameter 29 ft. 1 3/4 in. Stock-line diameter 20 ft. o in. Large-bell diameter 114 ft. 8 in. Small-bell diameter 6 ft. 6 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to bottom of large bell, closed 94 ft. 4 in. Height of furnace from center of iron notch to main platform 105 ft. o in.] The furnace top is equipped with a McKee revolving distributor, the operation of which is electrically interlocked with the skips, bell hoists, and coke-weighing and charging apparatus through a Freyn automatic charging control. The gas leaves the furnace first through four offtakes, 5 ft. g in. in diameter, then through uptakes that are approximately 85 ft. high, which feed into a single down-comer that is 9 ft. in diameter. DUST CATCHER The primary dust catcher installed (Fig. I) may be described as a single-cone type. The inlet pipe at the top of the dust catcher is g ft. in diameter; it is flared to a conical shape as it extends down inside the dust-catcher shell, which is 35 ft. in diameter, 37 ft. high on the straight side, and has a conical top and bottom. The slope of the bottom is 50° with the horizontal. The cone-shaped pipe inside the dust-catcher shell is 42 ft. high and is 19 ft. 7 in. in diameter at its bottom lip where it releases the gas in-

Jan 1, 1943

In the Bowen Basin of central Queensland, coal production has gone from virtually nothing in 1961 to more than 24 million tons today4ut there's a cloud over this success.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. K. Birnbaum

The termination of a twin lamella in the interior of a crystal requires accommodation of the strains at the tip of the twin which result from coherency of the twin and matrix. In zinc and magnesium crystals,

Jan 1, 1960

By Milton T. Pana

Computer techniques now have been applied to the solution of a wide variety of scientific and engineering problems in the mining industry, but generally not in great depth in any one area. In mining, the area covered in greatest depth and with the greatest success has probably been mine planning and to a lesser degree production scheduling. A rather comprehensive review of the literature related to mine planning and production scheduling indicates that contributions in these areas have been geographically, as well as organizationally, widespread. Of twenty-six papers reviewed, eleven were from industry, eight from educational institutions, four from computer vendors, two from the Bureau of Mines, and one from a private consultant. The conclusions that can be derived from the literature are: First, the-state-of-the art has advanced to the point that computing ore reserves and developing mining plans with the aid of the computer is now a routine practice; second, the application of the computer to mine planning problems has markedly improved our ability to estimate ore reserves, more accurately define pit limits, and determine an optimum mining sequence. MINE PLANNING The papers in this section deal essentially with the problem of determining the final pit limits of an orebody and the ore reserves associated with a given pit limit. The problem is probably best described by Soderberg25 and more recently by Reibell. 23. There are two techniques currently being applied to this problem by several mining companies: 1) the multiple-cone technique and 2) the Lerch-Grossman algorithm. The multiple-cone technique is the older of the two techniques and has the advantage of being more flexible, allowing an engineer to easily vary pit slopes in different sectors of the design. The technique can also be used to define intermediate pit contours. The Lerch-Grossman algorithm is appealing in that the final solution is given in the form of a true mathematical optimum. The technique is limited, however, in that the size of the blocks in the orebody model are a function of the desired

Jan 1, 1969

By Arthur L. Crawford

PLAGER gold is perhaps the most difficult of the common mineral deposits to evaluate. Not only are the erratic pay streaks a source of never-ending uncertainty, but the spotty distribution of the gold in iso¬lated nuggets is a perpetual source of error and disappointment to the sampler. Experienced engineers have long realized this difficulty and have been wary in predicting assay values except in the most general terms, and then only after extensive and usually expensive sampling. During the past year I have had the opportunity of checking a number of gold placers, and from the results obtained I believe that the microscope may be employed to advantage in placer sampling.

Jan 1, 1933

Jan 1, 1920

By O. M. Schaus

GRATIFYING progress continues towards the elimination of the hazards confronting health and safety in and about mines. Employers and employees are diligently co-operating. One of the outstanding movements towards this end is the National Safety Competition conducted by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. William W. Adams, of the Bureau, has stated that "Through 1936 there has passed by a dozen years of this National Safety Competition, as it started in 1925 with an enrollment of 210 mines and quarries in 28 states and 68 million man-hours of employment. For 1936 it covered 328 mines and quar-

Jan 1, 1938

By E. C. IBBOTSON

THIS process was reported upon by the Canadian Commission in 1904, and much detailed information was also given in a paper by Chief Engineer V. Engelhardt.1 Believing that some of the latest particulars of the process will be of interest, I submit the following data. At Gysinge in Sweden during the year ending May 31, 1906, from a fixed furnace giving 1 ton (2,240 lb.) of steel per tap, there were produced 950 tons of tool-steel and special steel ingots. . In carbon and iron tool-steels all the usual tempers were made. The bulk of this steel was made from charges composed of about 80 per cent of Swedish white pig-iron and 20 per cent. of steel-scrap. The percentage of carbon was regulated by the addition of briquettes. Other charges were made from Swedish white iron and steel-scrap. The average time taken per charge, for the year, when adding briquettes, was 7* hr., and the electric energy consumed was 1,128 units (kilowatt-hours) per ton. The average time per charge for white-iron and scrap charges was 5.5 hr., and the electric energy consumed was 886 units per ton. These consumptions include all time and energy lost from various causes, such as bad water-supply, ice, etc. It is quite ordinary practice to complete the charges with briquettes in 6.5 hr., and without briquettes in 5 hr., as shown by the following typical charges White pig-iron, 1,457; steel-scrap, 439; briquettes, 220; ferrosilicon (50 per cent. of silicon), 17 ; ferromanganese (80 per cent. of manganese), 15 lb. ; and aluminum, 1 oz.=

Nov 1, 1906

By David W. Brunton

From the old-fashioned " grab-sample " to the modern timing-device, which takes a machine-sample with mathematical precision, there is a wide gap, which was only crossed by many years of toil and unremitting endeavor. Even to-day, notwithstanding the advancement in the art, " grab-sampling " is still practiced—sometimes to afford the unscrupulous mine-promoter a basis for fairy-tales with which to entrap the too-gullible investor, and often by milling and smelting companies to determine the amount of moisture in custom-ores. The latter practice is almost as reprehensible as the former, and it causes more trouble and ill-feeling between seller and buyer than all other factors put together. -NO reputable concern to-day would think of attempting to determine by grab-sampling the amount of gold, silver, lead, or copper contained in an ore, and yet many buyers expect the miner to accept the results of grab-sampling in the determination of the amount of water contained in the ore, forgetting that accurate results are just as necessary here as in the determination of the metals, because the result determines the percentage of weight of the ore which shall be excluded and considered to have no value whatever. Samples for the determination of moisture should be taken with as great care as samples for the determination of metallic content, and in order to avoid the extra expense of a separate operation moisture-samples should be taken from the sample-safe. As the sample reaches the sample-bin in a smaller stream and by a more circuitous route than the " reject" travels in its path to the outgoing car, it loses more moisture en route, and a constant should be added to compensate for this difference. Carefullg ,con ducted experiments have shown that the differ.elice in loss of moisture between the two routes does not exceed 10 per cent. in summer and 7 per cent. in winter. For instance,

Jan 1, 1910